GOP on SPR: Drill, baby, drill

POLITICO

Published 8:46 am, Thursday, June 23, 2011

Within minutes of the Obama administration's surprise announcement it would release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, House Speaker John Boehner's office took a shot at the White House's energy policy.

House Republicans have passed several bills already this year that would encourage new offshore oil drilling, including one Wednesday to limit the amount of time the EPA can spend reviewing drilling permits.

Some questioned whether the current scenario constituted an emergency.

The actual result on prices will be determined by how much of the 30 million barrels the U.S. will be able to sell and whether OPEC countries end up curbing their supply and reduce any net supply on the global market, he said.

Caruso said the use of the reserve should not be a worrisome signal. "It just shows a willingness to use the most powerful tool we have in our energy crisis management set of responses," he said.

Others said Thursday's move was long overdue.

"With our economy teetering on the brink of a double-dip recession, and American families still struggling during peak driving season, this is the one tool America has at her disposal to immediately help drive down prices at the pump," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Markey introduced a bill in March with seven fellow Democrats asking for the administration to release 30 million barrels of oil from the reserve. "Deploying just a small fraction of our nation's oil reserves will have a huge effect on the everyday lives of American families and potentially on the health of our economy."

"Selling surplus reserve oil should lower oil and gasoline prices, which will act like a tax cut for American families," said Dan Weiss, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. CAP proposed tapping into the SPR back in early February when U.S. crude oil hit $90 a barrel for the first time this year.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 10:49 a.m. on June 23, 2011.